Question about paying outside of ebay (I think)

crissy11

crissy11

O.G.
Jun 23, 2009
6,412
142
#1
OK, trying to make this as short as possible. . . . I bought a Coach keychain from someone through ebay. We've been chatting, she's kind of a personal shopper and I told her I was looking for a specific Coach keychain. She found it for me and sent me a Paypal link to pay for it.

However, this time I think the transaction is being done outside of ebay. It's not that I don't trust her, it's more that I'm so new to ebay (this is only my third purchase) and that I'd like to build up some good feedback/status as a buyer, and I doubt that doing transations outside of ebay will grant me that.

I asked the seller the same question, but thought I'd throw it out here as well to see what you guys think.

THANKS!! You are always such a valuable source of info for newbie ebayers!!
 
#3
Thanks Ellie Mae - I think she's going outside ebay to save the fees and stuff. It's only a $40 purchase, and to be honest, that's a very good price. I mean not stupid good (as in if it's too good to be true), but I'm sure if I were to buy the same keychain on ebay I'd be paying about $10 more - I checked. So I guess she's passing the savings along by saving fees. And free shipping too.

Well I'll see what she says when she emails me back. I trust her, but not like a sister. And I wouldn't do this for anything over $40, so I'll have to think about it.

And I do pay with my credit card.

Thanks again.
 
#4
I wouldn't do that transaction outside Ebay but then I want to be as protected as possible, even for $40. I can't count the number of times I've read a post in which a buyer stated that the seller asked them to do a transaction outside of Ebay to save the feels and then they'd pass the discount along to them, only to end up sending them an item that is counterfeit or not as described. It could be legit..or it could not, just something to think about.

Linda
 
#6
So I heard back from the seller with the following message indicating she will have to charge more for the keychain once she lists it on Ebay. Does this sound about right to you guys? I wish she had given me the price she will be charging, I just emailed her and asked her what that is.

Anyway, here is her reply:

______________________________

No problem at all we can complete the transaction via Ebay which is the easiest way. Just a few things though;

When I list it I would have to increase the list price/cost. There are a few reasons
1) We have to pay ebay fees to list which is $2-$4
2)We have to pay an ebay final value fee which ranges from 10 to 16 percent depending on the item and final sale price.
3)We have to pay paypal fees as a seller which is 4 percent of the total paypal txn
4)we are covering the shipping which I think was $7 or 8 dollars cdn for your last pkg. I would have to check the invoice.

So if I list it for $36.99 I am basically giving the keychain away for not only less than cost but also spending money out of pocket (esp when you add the gas, my time etc)

I didn't factor the above when I came up with the initial price for you.
 
#7
I'm not sure why she's throwing the shipping in there as a reason to increase the price, was she going to ship it to you for free if you purchased outside of Ebay? It's been a few months since I've sold anything so I'm not sure about how close her percentages are, hopefully someone else will chime in for you.

Linda
 
#8
Yes, she does free shipping for everyone all the time, which was one of the reasons I enjoyed doing business with her. Not paying shipping charges is awesome.

Anyway, if it costs an extra $5.00 to do it on ebay then fine, but if it's more like an extra $10 (on a $37 item), then it's not worth it and I might ask her if I can still do it outside ebay as she initially suggested.

For something more expensive I wouldn't do this, but since I've already dealt with her once and it was a good experience, I guess I'm OK doing it this way for another keychain.
 
#9
This is just a bit of a vent. I had a FANTASTIC WONDERFUL relationship going with the seller before, during and after my first purchase with her. We emailed each other, left each other amazing feedback, talked about what items I would like, etc. She's kind of a personal shopper and will look for items for you - thus the keychain in question which she was going to sell me outside of ebay. But I never heard from her about this since, even though she said it was fine.

Having heard nothing from her, I really wanted the keychain, so I emailed her again and said I'm still willing to do it outside of ebay if that's easier for her, just let me know.

NOTHING. No communication whatsover. This just really rots my socks. I mean it wouldn't bother me at all if the pattern had been taking days to respond, but up until recently it was seconds!! She would reply from her blackberry if she was out and about. So how does it go from that to nothing??????? And I can see that she is online sometimes, so it's not like she hasn't seen my emails.

I feel like emailing her and asking her nicely what's up. I've seen other things on ebay I could purchase in the event she doesn't want to sell this to me for whatever reason - but I kind of think she should let me know one way or the other just to be polite. I mean she's not anti-ebay, our first transaction was done via ebay. I almost get the feeling that she uses ebay to get her customers, but after that she'd rather operate outside of ebay. That's what I've surmised from the experience anyway.

But what really baffles me, is that I had 2 purses I wanted to see if she could find for me. So there was a lot of potential business for her with me. I don't have a Coach outlet anywhere near me, so she could have done quite well by me because I trusted her completely, but instead she is blowing me off for no reason whatsover. The only thing I did was ask her if I could do the purchase within ebay so that I could build up my feedback status. And she said yes, that's fine, and now nothing.

Anyway, just needed to get that off my chest. I just don't get people.
 
#10
This is just the type of transaction I would not have minded doing off-ebay - a seller you feel very comfortable with after completing successful transaction. It's like finding a seller you really like on ebay, and then learning they have their own website where you can shop for the same items and save a bit. And even better than just coming across a website on your own, because you actually have a history with the seller.

Since she is a personal shopper and you requested something that she found for you, she might have thought that you were backing off from the deal when you asked for her to list it on ebay.

Or maybe she's just busy. It's only been a day.
 
#11
I think she understood that I was trying to build up some feedback on ebay. From this forum alone it's easy to see that people do not like selling to those who haven't bought much on ebay. They might be OK with selling you something small, but what about if I wanted to buy a purse or something with a larger dollar value. With two $30 transactions to my name, I don't look like the ideal ebayer.

Anyway, I'll see if she gets back to me or not. My gut feeling is not and I have no idea why.
 
#12
I think if you've already emailed her and you haven't heard back it's better to just let it go rather than try to force the issue. I still wouldn't have purchased from her off Ebay but that's just me, I like to have my bases covered. What if you had purchased something from her off Ebay, it came scratched or otherwise not as described and she wasn't answering your emails then?

Linda
 
#13
Linda - you are correct. For me it isn't so much about the item as it is about the communication, especially someone I'm doing business with. So a lack of response speaks volumes to me anyway - especially when I am your customer.

I'm kind of old school when it comes to proper etiquette - business and social, but I guess the internet has changed that somewhat.

I'll have to adapt I guess!
 
#14
I would pass on this.. I always think that it is best to do your transactions

with the protection of paypal and your credit card no matter what the amount is.

Many of us have had good and positive experiences with many buyers/sellers

but sometimes your own standards as to how someone does business or as you

think"old school" with good etiquette doesn't always pay off the way you would like,

sister or no sister
 
#15
The transaction was through Paypal, just not eBay. I guess I'm just a risk-taker. I buy things all the time on the internet with a credit card or Paypal. :smile: I would be leery of a seller I wasn't familiar with who wanted to end an eBay listing and sell on the side, but a seller I was already thrilled with who had what I wanted and hadn't posted it on eBay wouldn't worry me, especially if it wasn't an expensive item.
 
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